One week later.
Locke sat in his office at the Healing Hand Clinic, organizing a preliminary draft of data on Emerald Iris Lichen for submission to the Breeder Competition.
The document still needed some refinement before it could be sent to the competition committee.
At the same time, he reviewed the treatment results of his Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion over the past week.
First, it had completely cured the previous sixteen Magic Plant Curse patients, as well as five new cases that had appeared over the subsequent five days.
Additionally, under his leadership, Angulo and Essie had successfully brewed over a hundred doses of the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion within the week, treating a total of 67 patients.
Among them were victims of the Magic Plant Curse, as well as sufferers of other curses.
Some patients had been afflicted with difficult conditions such as the Consciousness Split Curse, the troublesome Multiple Self Curse, and other challenging curses.
The Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion had demonstrated excellent therapeutic effects—even surpassing many specialized antidotes originally designed for these curses.
The principle behind this potion's curse-removal mechanism was to enhance the patient's innate Magic Resistance. As a result, this method was the least damaging to the patient's vitality and even provided some physical benefits.
After this week, Locke had received notice from the clinic's higher-ups.
The leadership had decided to allow his team to begin testing the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion on wizard apprentice patients afflicted with common curses like the Thousand Blades Curse and the Bleeding Curse.
This indicated that his potion had shown astonishing efficacy against multiple curses.
The academy's leadership was already considering expanding its application to ordinary curse-related illnesses to further test its performance.
Over the week, Locke had also begun collecting data and drafting several articles, ready to submit them to the library.
Simultaneously, the academy's higher-ups had urged Locke to expedite the third-phase trials of the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion so that it could officially enter the Chimera Market as a publicly available potion.
At his workstation, Locke drafted an Excellent Project Reward application for his Emerald Iris Lichen cultivation plan.
Previously, he hadn't been aware of this opportunity and thus hadn't applied.
But now that he knew, he naturally intended to claim some of the academy's funds to expand his Emerald Iris Lichen Magical Field.
Half an hour later, Locke stood up and addressed Angulo and Essie, "You two, I have something to attend to this afternoon, so please handle the work for me today."
Angulo and Essie naturally had no objections.
Locke promptly left the Healing Hand Clinic and headed for the public library—the place to submit project applications.
Moreover, he planned to publish his newly written articles and check the ratings of those he had previously released.
"My mentor gave me a month to strengthen myself and execute the covert assassination plan," Locke mused. "First, I need to focus on continuing my archaeology studies to enhance my Ancient Creature Bloodline Modification."
"This would most directly enhance my combat capabilities and allow me to withstand using more Eye Demon Potions and Fission Potions, even those with greater side effects... Forbidden drugs."
"If I can secure another Excellent Project Reward, my savings will exceed eleven thousand four hundred Magic Stones. I can use this sum to purchase equipment, Magic Plants, and learn some powerful plant-based Spells to quickly boost my combat strength. This will further expand my Spell repertoire and fully utilize my current Mana reserves."
Locke pondered.
He didn't consider that 2,000 of those Magic Stones were originally allocated by the academy for testing the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion and expanding the Emerald Iris Lichen cultivation.
After all, once the funds were disbursed, how they were used was entirely his decision.
Such a small amount was merely a fraction anyway—better spent on urgent needs.
Moreover, by the end of this month, his salary from the clinic would be paid.
His team had treated so many patients this month that the payout would be substantial.
Of course, since the Healing Hand Clinic provided the patient pool, most of the profits went to them.
This differed from the income he shared with Sophia from their jointly sourced patients.
...
After Locke left the clinic, in the office of Angron's personal studio within the Healing Hand Clinic...
Angron stood in the center of the room, frowning deeply as he addressed his assistant Carrie Ackerman, the other Second-Class Wizard Apprentices, and his junior, First-Class Wizard Apprentice Newk.
His expression was grim as he scrutinized the documents in his hand. "Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion?"
"This complicates things."
"The academy leadership is now extremely interested in this Potion project, prioritizing it almost as highly as the projects held by us Potionology Wizard Seeds. They've already disbursed the Excellent Project subsidies."
"If this continues, our studio won't monopolize this year's clinic quotas. It might even jeopardize my bid for the Distinguished Healer position."
"The higher-ups seem to believe this Potion's merits rival my achievement in resolving the Mother-Child Giant Corpse Blood Curse."
Angron's gaze darkened. "As you all know, I desperately need the reward tied to the Distinguished Healer title—the Swarm Consciousness Potion."
"That Potion would be wasted on anyone in the academy who isn't a Wizard Seed like me."
"You're all still far from the threshold of becoming Formal Wizards. Only in my hands would it represent optimal resource utilization."
Carrie Ackerman said dejectedly, "But senior, what's done is done. What should we do now?"
First-Class Wizard Apprentice Newk's eyes gleamed. "Senior Angron, perhaps we could leverage our mentor's connections to resolve this through other means."
"We could find a way to remove Locke Augustine from the clinic."
"He has his project, after all. We could ensure he focuses entirely on his Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion experiments."
"If he's no longer at the clinic, he can't compete with you for the title."
Angron immediately denied it, shaking his head. "No. First of all, the higher-ups in the academy have already turned their attention here. This is different from the situations we've encountered before."
"Our little tricks are likely to be discovered."
"Secondly, this would require using Master Harun Vera's network of connections, and the master would definitely notice. But... recently, the master has taken quite a liking to Locke Augustine..."
Angron's eyes darkened. "When the time comes, I can't be sure of the master's stance on this matter. As you all know, the master greatly admires those with talent."
Angron clenched his fists, his eyes filled with anger, resentment, and a trace of disdain. He hadn't expected that something he desired would be threatened by a brat who had just advanced to First Class Wizard Apprentice.
'I'm the Wizard Seed in Potionology at Lilith's Cottage. This newcomer has no sense at all, daring to cross me,' Angron thought gloomily. He raised his head and addressed everyone in the workshop, "For now, all of you need to work twice as hard."
"The future won't be as comfortable as before. As long as our workshop's treatment output surpasses that of Locke Augustine's team, those four reward slots will still be in our hands."
The expressions on the faces of those in Angron's workshop varied.
What Angron said was indeed correct, but the problem was—could they actually achieve it?
The therapeutic efficiency of the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion had been repeatedly tested and proven over the past week to be exceptionally effective against Curse Magic.
How could they possibly compete with the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion on their own?
(End of Chapter)